Microbial activities in deep subsurface environments

Description

Activities of microorganisms residing in terrestrial deep subsurface sediments were examined in forty-six sediment samples from three aseptically sampled boreholes. Radiolabeled time course experiments assessing in situ microbial activities were initiated within 30 minutes of core recovery. [{sup 14}C-1-] Acetate incorporation into lipids. [methyl-{sup 3}H-]thymidine incorporation into DNA, [{sup 14}C-2-]acetate and [{sup 14}C-U-]glucose mineralization in addition to microbial enrichment and enumeration studies were examined in surface and subsurface sediments. Surface soils contained the greatest biomass and activities followed by the shallow aquifer zones. Water saturated subsurface sediments exhibited three to four orders of magnitude greater activity and culturable microorganisms than ...
continued below

Publisher

Provided By

UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.

Contact Us

What

Descriptive information to help identify this report.
Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Description

Activities of microorganisms residing in terrestrial deep subsurface sediments were examined in forty-six sediment samples from three aseptically sampled boreholes. Radiolabeled time course experiments assessing in situ microbial activities were initiated within 30 minutes of core recovery. [{sup 14}C-1-] Acetate incorporation into lipids. [methyl-{sup 3}H-]thymidine incorporation into DNA, [{sup 14}C-2-]acetate and [{sup 14}C-U-]glucose mineralization in addition to microbial enrichment and enumeration studies were examined in surface and subsurface sediments. Surface soils contained the greatest biomass and activities followed by the shallow aquifer zones. Water saturated subsurface sediments exhibited three to four orders of magnitude greater activity and culturable microorganisms than the dense clay zones. Regardless of depth, sediments which contained more than 20% clays exhibited the lowest activities and culturable microorganisms.